U.S. patent number 3,592,098 [Application Number 04/826,440] was granted by the patent office on 1971-07-13 for electronic musical instrument employing plural tuning sheets and a hand-held selector.
Invention is credited to Ernest A. Zadig.
United States Patent |
3,592,098 |
Zadig |
July 13, 1971 |
ELECTRONIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT EMPLOYING PLURAL TUNING SHEETS AND A
HAND-HELD SELECTOR
Abstract
A device for producing selected tones includes an electrically
operated tone generator which includes a stylus and a plurality of
terminals for producing tones by completing a circuit through the
stylus and the one of the terminals that will cause the desired
tone to be produced. A separate conductor for each terminal is on a
sheet and extends to one edge. Each conductor is uninsulated at a
portion at said edge, and at least at one other point. By folding
the edge portion of the sheet each conductor will have an
uninsulated portion at both the upper and under side s of the sheet
for making contacts with similarly arranged conductors on another
sheet, above or below, if a number of the sheets are stacked. A
contact board has contacts connected respectively to the tone
generator terminals and arranged to contact respective conductors
on one or more sheets by placing the board against the edge portion
of one or more of the sheets. A selected tone is produced by
contacting the stylus with an uninsulated point on one of the
conductors on a sheet.
Inventors: |
Zadig; Ernest A. (South
Norwalk, CT) |
Family
ID: |
25246549 |
Appl.
No.: |
04/826,440 |
Filed: |
May 21, 1969 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
84/471R;
84/483.1; 984/344; 434/339; 84/DIG.7; 340/384.7 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G10H
1/32 (20130101); G09B 5/062 (20130101); Y10S
84/07 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G09B
5/00 (20060101); G09B 5/06 (20060101); G10H
1/32 (20060101); G10b 015/02 () |
Field of
Search: |
;84/1.01,1.17,470,471,477,478,483,1.04 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Hirshfield; Milton O.
Assistant Examiner: Witkowski; Stanley J.
Claims
What we claim is:
1. A device for electrically producing selected tones comprising an
electrical tone generator which produces a selected tone when a
particular circuit is completed therethrough by making a connection
between a stylus and one of a plurality of terminals of the
generator, a sheet having a plurality of spaced electrical
conductors thereon extending to one edge of the sheet, each of said
conductors being covered with electrical insulation except along a
portion of its length inward from said edge of the sheet and at
least at one other selected point, an elongated board element
contacting the portion of the sheet along said edge which carries
the uninsulated portions of each of the conductors, said board
element having a plurality of electrical contacts on at least one
side thereof, said contacts being spaced to conform to the spacing
between the uninsulated conductors at the edge of the sheet, so
that each of said contacts is in contact with the uninsulated
portions of one of the conductors, and each of said contacts being
connected to one of said terminals of the tone generator whereby a
selected tone is produced by placing the stylus in electrical
contact, through one of said uninsulated points, with the conductor
that is connected through said board element to the appropriate
terminal for the tone desired.
2. The device of claim 1 in which said conductors are lines of
electrically conductive ink and said insulation is an overlay of
nonelectrically conductive ink.
3. The device of claim 1 in which said uninsulated portion of each
conductor extends substantially at right angles in from said edge
of the sheet, and in which the portion of the sheet along said edge
is folded over to expose the uninsulated portion of each conductor
on the upper side and on the underside of the sheet with the
uninsulated portion of each conductor exposed on the underside in
alignment with the uninsulated portion of the same conductor
exposed on the upper side, at least one additional similarly
constituted sheet stacked with the other with uninsulated portions
of the conductors on the under side of one sheet in contact with
uninsulated portions of corresponding conductors on the upper side
of the sheet below, said board element having its contacts in
contact with the conductors of one of the sheets to thereby
effectively connect the corresponding conductors of each of the
sheets to the respective terminals of the tone generator.
4. The device of claim 3, and in combination, a base member having
said tone generator mounted thereon, said sheets and said board
element being supported on the base member, and means attaching
said edge portions of the sheets and the board element to each
other and to the base member.
5. The device and combination of claim 4 in which the tone
generator is arranged along one edge of the base member with said
edge portions of the sheets and said board element attached to the
base member adjacent the tone generator and parallel to said one
edge of the base member thereby to form a booklike structure
wherein the main portion of the topmost sheet is adapted to be
folded up and away from the next lower sheet to expose the said
uninsulated points of the conductors on the latter sheet for access
of the stylus thereto.
6. The device and combination of claim 5 in which said conductors
are lines of electrically conductive ink and said insulation in an
overlay of nonelectrically conductive ink.
Description
The present invention is a device for electrically producing
selected tones by completing alternative tone-producing circuits
through a tone generator by applying a stylus, which is connected
to the generator, selectively to uninsulated points of conductors
which are carried on a sheet. The conductors are connected
respectively to different terminals of the tone generator for
connecting the conductors into different tone-producing circuits
through the generator.
The conductors and their uninsulated points may be arranged on the
sheet in positions representing the positions of musical notes on a
conventional musical staff marked on the sheet in which case the
tones are identified by conventional musical symbols; or the tones
may be identified by words, letters or other symbols, and may be
arranged in any desired array on the sheet.
Devices of this general type are known and an example is
illustrated by U. S. Pat. No. 3,376,778, Apr. 8, 1968, to C. O.
Musser for an "Electrical Musical Instrument with Conductive Tune
Sheet." The drawbacks of known devices of this type are that the
sheets as heretofore constituted are complicated and expensive to
manufacture and the connections of the conductors to the tone
generator are cumbersome and awkward to handle.
An object of this invention is to provide an improved device of
this type which is simple and economical to manufacture.
Another object is to provide such a device in which a plurality of
the sheets in accordance with the invention are adapted to be
arranged in a book in which the tone generator is incorporated.
This invention will now be described in more detail with reference
to illustrative embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings in
which:
FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of the elements of the
tone-producing electric circuits in a device in accordance with the
invention;
FIG. 2 is an exploded view of two sheets and a board element in
accordance with the invention, showing them in their relative
positions in a stack for mounting in a book, as in FIG. 1, for
example;
FIG. 3 is a partial isometric view of the edges of a plurality of
sheets in an alternative form of stack wherein the sheets are
superposed with their edges in staggered relation; and
FIG. 4 is an isometric view of an embodiment of the invention
wherein a plurality of the sheets are mounted in a book
incorporating a tone generator.
Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates schematically an
electrically operated tone generator which is adapted for producing
a variety of different tones and which is utilized in combination
with one or more of the sheets 10 of this invention for producing
selected tones, the structure of the sheets 10 being illustrated
most clearly in FIG. 2.
As shown in FIG. 1, the tone generator for the device of this
invention is suitably provided by an audio oscillator having a
loudspeaker 12 at its output side and a tuning circuit which
includes an amplifier-oscillator element 11, a stylus 13, a source
of electric power, such as a battery 14, and a plurality of
resistors 15 connected respectively to a plurality of contacts 16
of a contact board 17. The particular circuit configuration for the
oscillator is not critical to the invention and a different circuit
configuration--for example, one having a plurality of capacitors
rather than resistors 15--could also be used.
The sheet 10 provides means for actuating the tuning circuit to
produce a tone by completing a connection between the stylus 13 and
one of the resistors 15, the pitch of the tone produced being
determined by the value of the particular resistor 15 through which
the circuit is completed.
Referring to FIG. 2, the sheet 10, which may be of any suitable
dielectric material, such as paper or plastic, has a plurality of
separate conductors 18 thereon. The number of conductors 18
corresponds to the number of different tones--and hence the number
of resistors 15--that it is desired to provide, eight resistors 15
and eight conductors 18 being shown. The conductors 18 extend
across the sheet 10 to one edge 10a and are arranged on the sheet
in accordance with the desired arrangement of tones to be
produced--as explained in more detail below--but the portions of
the conductors at, and for a short distance back from, the edge
10a, are in parallel uniformly spaced relation and are concentrated
along one portion of the edge for convenience of design. Each of
the conductors is covered with insulation except for a short length
18a back from the edge 10a, where it is exposed for making
electrical contact with a contact 16 of the contact board 17. A gap
in the insulation on each conductor 18 is also provided at least at
one other point,--indicated at 19 in FIGS. 2 and 4--at which the
conductor is exposed to provide a point where the stylus 13 is to
be placed in contact with it for producing the tone that the
particular conductor is connected to produce. The conductors 18 and
their uninsulated points 19 may be arranged in a pattern of notes
on a musical staff marked on the sheet, or in any other desired
pattern, such as the scale illustrated on the top sheet 10 in FIG.
4.
In a preferred form the conductors 18 are formed on the sheet 10 by
printing lines of electrically conductive ink and the insulation is
provided by overprinting a layer 20 of nonconductive ink. The
overprinted layer 20 stops short of the edge 10a to leave the end
portions 18a of the conductors exposed for a short distance up to
the edge 10, and appropriate holes are provided for in the layer 20
to leave the conductors exposed at the points 19.
The uninsulated end portions 18a of the conductor 18 extend to the
edge 10a of the sheet 10 in parallel lines at right angles to the
edge for a short distance in from the edge. By folding the edge
portion of the sheet back under itself in the direction indicated
by arrow 21, along a straight fold line 22 which is parallel to the
edge 10a an uninsulated portion 18 of each conductor is provided at
the underside of the edge portion of the sheet in alignment with
the uninsulated portions 18a on the upper side. A plurality of
similarly folded sheets 10 may then be stacked on one another with
the conductors 18 on each one in electrical contact with the
corresponding conductors on the others. In this way, connecting the
conductors 18 of one sheet 10 to the respective resistors 15 of the
tone generator is also effective to connect the conductors 18 of
the other sheets in the stack to the resistors.
The contact board 17 by which the conductors of a sheet 10 are
connected to the resistors 15 has its contacts 16 (which are
connected respectively to the resistors) spaced along it so as to
make contact with the respective uninsulated portions 18a of the
conductors on a sheet 10 by placing the board 17 on, under or
against the edge portion of the sheet 10. When the edge portions of
a stack of sheets 10, which have their edge portions folded over as
described above, are placed in a stack, the board 17 is effective
to make contact with corresponding conductors 18 on all the sheets
in the stack by being placed in contact with the conductors 18 on
either the top or the bottom sheet in the stack.
When a plurality of sheets 10 and the contact board 17 are combined
in a stack, shown in FIG. 2, they may be held together by suitable
means such as by capscrews 23 through appropriate holes 24 in the
sheets and in the board.
In an alternative form of the sheets 10 shown in FIG. 3 the edge
portions of the sheets are not folded over as in FIG. 2 and the
uninsulated portions 18a of the conductors are thus exposed only at
the upper sides of the sheets. In this instance a plurality of the
sheets are stacked in staggered relation so that uninsulated
portions 18a of all the conductors on the several sheets are
exposed in the manner shown, and the contact board 17 will be
placed on the oblique edge of the stack to make contact with the
conductors on all the sheets.
FIG. 4 illustrates a preferred embodiment of the invention wherein
a stack of sheets 10 are combined in a book with all the elements
of the tone generator carried in a housing 25 which forms the back
end of the book. The housing 25 is mounted along one edge of a base
sheet or plate 26, and a stack of sheets 10 with a contact board 17
placed in contact with the bottom of the stack are attached to the
baseplate 26 adjacent the housing 25 by capscrews 23 attached
through the stack to the baseplate. The book is suitably provided
with a hinged cover 27, and the stylus 13 may be connected with the
tone generator tuning circuit through a jack 28. Being thus able to
plug the stylus 13 into the jack 28, or unplug it, provides a
suitable on-off switch for the device.
Due to the construction described above the corresponding
conductors 18 on all the sheets 10 in the stack are connected
through the contact board 17 to the respective resistors 15 of the
tone generator in the housing 28. Thus, in order to produce the
tones provided for on any one of the sheets 10 in the stack the
appropriate sheet is uncovered by folding back the sheets above
it,--as in opening a book to a desired page,--so that the stylus 13
may be placed on the uninsulated points 19 of the conductors 18 in
a sequence, and at time intervals, which may be indicated by the
positions of the points 19 on the sheet, or by symbols or
directions marked thereon.
* * * * *